May 23, 2018

Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest tier list update! This time around we're looking at the large scale jungle changes, which favors early game duelists with good burst damage. This means champions like Graves and Xin Zhao are truly at the top of their class, and if you want to open the gates with Udyr he's finding amazing success as well.

Check out the full list below!

SEASON 8 - PATCH 8.10FASTEST RANKEDLP GAIN TIER LIST

"What Are the Best Champions to Climb With"

Preface Chatter

Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest tier list update! This time around we're looking at the large scale jungle changes, which favors early game duelists with good burst damage. This means champions like Graves and Xin Zhao are truly at the top of their class, and if you want to open the gates with Udyr he's finding amazing success as well.

The purpose of this list is to pick out the champions that when played, will allow you to climb divisions the fastest by winning more games. This list contains more off-meta and counter-meta placements that do well against popular picks.

If you're looking for a more meta based tier list based on popularity, be sure to check out the FOTM list as well!

Instructions and Caveats:

Champions in BOLD I will talk about shortly

Champions UNDERLINEDmay be over/undervalued, but aren't/haven't played enough for me to make a better judgment.

Within each tier, the champions are strongest from left to right, but within a tier each champion's strength is relatively close. This is especially true for Tiers 2 and 3 where these champions are ALL highly playable and player dependent on how strong they are in-game.

Win Rates are important in analyzing each champion's strength but are not the end-all criteria for any champion's position.

Professional Picks may not necessarily translate into good picks for solo queue ladder, the two have slightly different meta-games and skill levels.

The creator of this list is diamond, so there may be some personal bias towards higher tier play on certain champions.

God Tier: These champions are almost impossible to keep down. If your team doesn't make it a priority to shut down these champions and shut them down hard, even if they lose their lane, lose in CS, and it's their first time playing the champion, they can be a massive nuisance for your team. On the other hand, if they're actually good at the champion...that's when it's time to throw in the towel. Tier 1: These champions generally do very well regardless, and have some sort of advantage over most other champions. When they do well, their team does well. Even when they don't do well, their team still has a good chance of a comeback victory by utilizing one or more aspects of their late game utility. Tier 2: This is the Tier of balanced champions where Riot shoots to place their designs. These champions generally do well in their own right, and are very strong picks with a good chance of winning. However, they're not overpowered by any means and do have their weaknesses. Tier 3: These champions can still do very well, but tend to need a little more snowballing to get rolling. Even if they get an early lead, it's still very possible to turn the tides on them with just a mistake or two. They may also have some weaknesses that can be capitalized on. Tier 4: These champions are either underpowered or offer less reward than other champions for the same amount of effort. These champions basically start winning from the get-go or get made fun of for the rest of the game. They need gold to do their job correctly, and if they don't get enough of it, they become sandbags for the enemy team to punch. Chances of a comeback with one of these champions feeding on your team is almost none.

Champion Explanations

Dr. Mundo [Tier 1 Top] - After nerfs to Dr. Mundo, he's far weaker than the absurd level he was at last patch. However, that doesn't mean he's unplayable by any means. He's still a decent top laner, and the nerfs don't prevent him from doing his job.

Graves [God Tier Jungle] - If anything, he seems to be getting stronger patch over patch. This time around, he's got his insane early game damage to dish out on Scuttle Crabs for big boosts. When you combine this with his crazy mid-game power, this makes him incredibly hard to shut down.

Janna [God Tier Support] - Janna's "nerfs" certainly didn't hit her too hard from a stat perspective. However, most players are opting for aggressively engaging supports like Rakan. Luckily, Janna counters Rakan fairly well and still works with the hyper-carry meta.

Nami [Tier 1 Support] - Nami is a very underrated support right now. She counters both Janna and Rakan, resulting in a support that's never banned and also happens to beat out the meta ones too. Her sustain also makes her more favorable over other peel supports, and she can engage extremely well with her double AOE CC combo.

Talon [God Tier Mid] - This is somewhat of a late move that resulted from the Patch 8.9 changes to his Q range. After boosting his range by 75, this "bug fix" really did help Talon get into position much easier than before. As a result, he's much more consistent and no longer takes free hits from spellcaster poke at 525~575 range.

Udyr [Tier 1 Jungle] - Udyr as a team-fighting champion still suffers from his usual weaknesses. However, the new jungle gives him a bit more power in solo queue. His ability to clear jungle and control objectives from start to finish means that he can vary his jungle routes and create chaos for the enemy jungler in the new patch.

Warwick [Tier 1 Jungle] - Warwick's early game clear suffers a bit from cooldowns. Although he's a healthy duelist, his burst damage isn't quite high enough to secure all the jungle clears early game. With all the early game junglers running around, Warwick is starting to feel some age.

Xin Zhao [God Tier Jungle] - In this meta where Riot's promoting early game skirmishes, Xin Zhao excels. His ability to burst down jungle camps is incredibly good, and his level 2 ganking/dueling power has always been excellent. Now, he gets to show it off more often than ever, resulting in quickly snowballing games.

Disclaimer:

The purpose of this list is for discussion and to provide a starting point for champion selection.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below!

If you're looking for a more meta based tier list based on popularity, be sure to check out the FOTM list as well!